Month: July 2012

Vikings’ Christian Ponder bulks up to 233

stevenlourie News, Vikings

According to ESPN 1500 Twin Cities, Christian Ponder has added 20 pounds of bulk to his frame this offseason and now stands at 6-2 233. The added muscle will definitely help with two weaknesses of his game, his durability and his arm strength. Ponder has also received praise all offseason for his improvement, including quarterbacks coach Craig Johnson and NFL Film’s Greg Cosell.

He didn’t do much as a rookie to quiet the critics that said he was a reach at 12 in the 2011 NFL Draft. He completed just 54.3% of his passes for an average of 6.4 YPA and 13 touchdowns to 13 interceptions and missed time down the stretch with injuries. However, all is not lost yet. He’ll need to play like a top-15 quarterback this year for the Vikings to even have a chance this season as they still have a thin receiving corps, a weak back 7, a spotty offensive line, and a serious injury to their top offensive player, as well as arguably the toughest divisional competition of any league in the team.

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Lance Kendricks to have a prominent role in Rams’ offense

stevenlourie News, Rams

The Rams have one of the thinnest and least proven receiving corps in the NFL, but they have no shortage of young guys with upside. One of those young guys is tight end Lance Kendricks, a 2011 2nd round pick. According to the Rams’ official website, Kendricks figures to have a “prominent” role in the Rams’ offense this year. This makes sense as Dustin Keller, a tight end, led the Jets in targets last year when new Rams offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer was their offensive coordinator. The Rams have been lining up Kendricks all over the offense in practices.

After a strong Preseason led to high expectations heading into his rookie year, Kendricks was absolutely awful as a pass catcher last year. He was 2nd among tight ends in drops, despite only being targeted 53 times. He managed just 28 catches for 352 yards and didn’t score. He was ProFootballFocus’ worst rated pass catching tight end, though he was pretty good as a blocker. That being said, he’s still got a lot of upside and caught 43 passes for 663 yards and 5 touchdowns in 2010 with Wisconsin. He could be a sleeper this year.

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LaDainian Tomlinson thinks Santonio Holmes may be a problem in run first offense

stevenlourie Jets, News

Now that LaDainian Tomlinson is officially retired and a former-Jet, he can say negative things about the team without it affecting him. In one of his first appearances since his retirement ceremony, Tomlinson appeared on Rich Eisen’s podcast and spoke about, among other things, the Jets and their transition to a more run first offense this year. The Jets have talked about getting back to ground and pound this offseason, hiring Tony Sparano as offensive coordinator and trading for Tim Tebow. They have also told lead back Shonn Greene to expect an increase in carries off the career high 253 he had last year, though it’s unclear if he’s the type of back worthy of that.

One of the things Tomlinson mentioned is how this transition will affect mercurial receiver Santonio Holmes. On the matter, Tomlinson said “Santonio was brought there to be the No. 1 receiver and catch a lot of balls. So, if Week 6 they haven’t thrown the ball more than 15 times a game and Santonio is not getting his catches you may hear some things: him speaking out, him saying things that may rub some teammates the wrong way.”

Holmes has already become one of the league’s biggest locker room cancers over the past year and if that continues into next season, that might be the last straw, especially if he continues to not perform on the field (he had a career low 51 catches for 654 yards, with 8 touchdowns last year). The one thing that could keep him on the team in 2013 is the way his contract is structured. They’ll owe him a large portion of his 2013 salary regardless of whether or not he’s on the team.

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Jerry Rice praises Falcons’ Julio Jones

stevenlourie Falcons, News

While he was on Sportscenter today, Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice named Julio Jones as the receiver who will have a breakout year this season. Normally, things like this are not newsworthy, but if you’re a receiver, there isn’t anyone’s praise you want more than Jerry Rice’s. Jones has unlimited athletic talent and caught 54 passes for 959 yards and 8 touchdowns last season in 13 games, good for 66 catches for 1180 yards and 10 touchdowns over 16 games. That was despite struggling through injuries all year and being a rookie off a lockout shortened offseason.

All you have to do is look at his final 5 games to see the kind of upside he has. He caught 24 passes for 461 yards and 6 touchdowns in those 5 games. Last year, he was the clear #2 to Roddy White, averaging 7.0 targets per game, as opposed to 10.9 per game by Roddy White. With Dirk Koetter coming in and changing the offense to a more downfield passing offense, Jones, a young possession receiver, should see more targets this year and White, an aging possession receiver, should see less. This makes sense as their offense was much more efficient last year when they threw to Jones last year (10.5 YPA) than when they threw to White (7.4 YPA). I second Rice’s prediction that Jones will have a breakout season. He’s my #5 fantasy receiver.

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Bears, Henry Melton not discussing extension

stevenlourie Bears, News

As the 2009 4th round pick heads into the final year of his rookie contract, Henry Melton and the Bears are reportedly not discussing an extension and are not expected to do so before or during the season. Melton had a strong season in 2011, ranking 17th among defensive tackles on ProFootballFocus and 6th as a pass rusher. He managed 7 sacks, 9 quarterback hits, and 23 quarterback pressures on 437 pass rush snaps as a rotational player (8.9%) last year.

The former collegiate defensive end (and running back) wasn’t great against the run, but he’s still a good player and a good fit for the Bears’ scheme. He’s also expected to play some fullback this year in a “Refrigerator” Perry type role. He didn’t do much in the past before last season so I understand the Bears’ hesitance to sign him long term at the moment. They don’t want to buy high and they might have the franchise tag available for him next offseason (if it isn’t used on Brian Urlacher).

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Falcons, Brent Grimes working on extension ahead of deadline

stevenlourie Falcons, News

Though there has been little to no activity between the two sides since Brent Grimes signed his 10.281 million dollar tender in April, ESPN.com’s Paul Yasinskas says that he wouldn’t “rule out” an extension for Brent Grimes from the Falcons before next Monday’s deadline for franchise players to sign long term deals.

Grimes was one of the league’s top cornerbacks last year, allowing just 25 completions on 56 attempts (44.6%) for 258 yards (4.6 YPA), 2 touchdowns, 1 interception, 12 deflections, and one penalty. He ranked 3rd among all cornerback on ProFootballFocus. However, the Falcons’ hesitance to do a long term deal with Grimes is likely due to Grimes’ injury history and the fact that the Falcons are already paying significant money to two other cornerbacks, Dunta Robinson and Asante Samuel. Still, with only 2.8 million of cap space, the Falcons have financial motivation to reduce Grimes’ 10.281 million dollar cap number for 2012.

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Browns expect Josh Gordon to contribute immediately

stevenlourie Browns, News

On the same day that the team used a 2nd round pick on him in the supplemental draft, Browns’ GM Tom Heckert said that he expects Josh Gordon to contribute immediately, which makes sense considering how highly the organization values him. The Browns have one of, if not the thinnest receiving corps in the NFL with the still raw Greg Little, the mediocre Mohamed Massaquoi, and 4th round rookie Travis Benjamin expected to be their top 3 receivers before today.

However, Gordon has been out of football for almost two years and hasn’t had the benefit of minicamps and OTAs that other players have had, so he could struggle to adjust to the speed of the NFL and struggle with the playbook as a rookie. I don’t expect him to start the year any higher than 4th on the depth chart. If he ever has any impact, it’ll be in 2013 and beyond as a starter opposite Greg Little, a 2011 2nd round pick who the team also has high expectations for.

Meanwhile, ESPN Cleveland’s Tony Grossi cites a league source that told him that Gordon could have been a top-10 pick in 2013. Grossi compares Gordon to Julio Jones and says that the Browns view him as their #1 receiver “in time.” Grossi is obviously a little biased and overly optimistic and while one league source may have been very high on Gordon, other league sources earlier today reportedly believed Gordon was only worth a 4th or 5th round pick in the supplemental draft. Besides, all you have to do is look at a 2012 NFL mock draft from this time last year to see that just because a guy in projected as a top-10 pick now, doesn’t mean he’ll go there when it’s all said and done, especially with such a boom or bust guy like Gordon.

All indications are that the Browns reached on potential out of desperation. No other team bid a 2nd rounder on him and while sources say the Cowboys were prepared to use a mid round pick on him, there’s no guarantee a team would have used a 3rd round pick on him. They may have reached by as much as 2 rounds. If Gordon makes good on his potential, that won’t matter in 3 years, but he’s incredibly boom or bust and supplemental picks don’t have a history of success, especially recently.

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Cleveland Browns use a 2nd round pick in supplemental draft on Josh Gordon

stevenlourie 2012 NFL Off-Season, Browns, Offseason Moves 2012

Anytime you can use a 2nd round pick on a player who hasn’t played football in 2 years, you have to do it. I don’t understand the infatuation with Gordon. He has off the field issues. He hasn’t played organized football for almost 2 years (which is the bigger issue). He only had one year of production at Baylor in 2010. Sure, he had nice tape and production for a mere 19 year old true sophomore (42 catches for 714 yards and 7 touchdowns), but that was two years ago.

If he had stayed out of trouble and had two more good years at Baylor, he probably would be a 1st round pick in 2013, but he didn’t and he’s still worth a 2nd? Given that the Browns figure to be one of the weaker teams in the NFL again next season, this pick will probably cost them a top-40 pick in the 2013 NFL Draft. Gordon was probably worth more in the 4th round range and a 2 round reach is a pretty major one.

Also, keep in mind the pretty terrible history that supplemental draft players have in the NFL (none have had any positive impact since Jared Gaither in 2007). There’s a reason the Browns were the only team to offer up their 2nd round pick for Gordon. No team is as receiver needy as they are (except maybe the Dolphins). This was a desperation pick that won’t work out and even if it does, it won’t for 2 years or so.

Grade: D

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Santana Moss could be Redskins’ #1 receiver

stevenlourie Commanders, News

According to ESPN NFC East reporter Dan Graziano, Santana Moss still has a chance to be the Redskins’ #1 receiver. That’s a pretty big leap for the man who was once considered to be on the roster bubble after the Redskins added both Pierre Garcon and Josh Morgan this offseason. However, a window opened when the Redskins cut Jabar Gaffney and Moss took it and ran, losing 15 pounds and putting himself in phenomenal shape. He’s reportedly been incredibly impressive this offseason in practice.

At the very least, Santana Moss will be the Redskins’ slot receiver, but he’ll compete with Josh Morgan and Leonard Hankerson for the starting job opposite Garcon. If Moss wins it, he’d move to the slot in 3-wide receiver sets and their #3 receiver would play outside. I actually think Moss is the favorite over the marginal Josh Morgan and the unproven Leonard Hankerson and given how much receivers can struggle when changing teams, I give Moss an outside shot to lead the team in receiving over Pierre Garcon.

My biggest concern is that Moss is 33 and had just 46 catches for 584 yards and 6 touchdowns last year, while dealing with injuries, age, and poor conditioning. A strong year this year would mean a bounce back year at age 33, which rarely happens (don’t see Smith, Steve). Still, Moss is a talented player who caught a career high 93 passes for 1115 yards and 6 touchdowns as recently as 2010 and surpassed 790 yards in every season from 2003-2010, despite inconsistent quarterback play. He’s 858 yards away from 10000 and I think he’ll get it at some point, maybe even this season.

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Tim Hightower to start for Redskins if healthy?

stevenlourie Commanders, News

According to ESPN.com’s Dan Graziano, if healthy, Tim Hightower will be the Redskins’ starting running back next season. This is notable because Graziano is the reporter who first predicted Hightower would start last year and he did. Hightower rushed for 321 yards and a score on 84 carries last season in 5 games before getting hurt. In his absence, both Evan Royster and Roy Helu played well and exceeded Hightower’s mere 3.8 YPC, but Shanahan seems to have a thing for Hightower, though Graziano admitted that Helu and Royster will see carries.

Mike Shanahan is notoriously inconsistent with his running backs and can change them up on a weekly basis depending on the opponent, with no warning to the public. It’s a smart football move, but it’s incredibly frustrating for fantasy football owners so stay away from Washington’s entire backfield this year. Let them be someone else’s problem. Even 6th round rookie Alfred Morris could be in the mix and don’t rule out Shanahan calling up his old pal Ryan Torain, who really struggled down the stretch last season.

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